Tainted
by WillowCarlisle
Summary: With the arrival of a stranger, Sesshoumaru is again faced with the presence of unwanted humans in his world. The girl that now seeks to hunt the great demon is relentless in her search. But she'll soon find that this demon is not to be reckoned with...
1. Discovery

**Summary**: _The hunt begins. Two months of searching has led the young miko, Kuri, to the lord of all demons. But the resons behind her advances have yet to be revealed. A spell is cast... And success is made... but at what cost to the heart of the unsuspecting girl with the purple hair?_

Cool breeze the scent of lilac and hyacinth lifted silver strands of hair away from a stern, ethereally beautiful face. Dim twilight rays of sunlight speckled golden eyes, shifting their depths to hazel, amber, bronze. The tittering of small vermin hushed, surrounding the great demon's acute ears with welcome, lulled silence.

Sesshoumaru frowned.

The sunset, a time that would normally bring a mild peace to his mind, brought with it today an unnerving anxiousness. The surrounding cliffs lay, shrouded in the impending dim. Treetops glowed below him like vast fields, awash in fiery afterlight. And the scent of the miko invaded his nostrils.

She had followed him for close to a month now. Feeling safe, he was sure, from the vengeful reach of his clutches. She was foolish. None would be safe from him: Sesshoumaru, Lord of all youkai. A god in the eyes of those worthless filth that were humans. All fell at the mere utterance of his name. And any stupid enough to cross his path would writhe beneath his claws.

His gaze wandered unconsciously to the form that crouched far below him. The cliff's edge jutted haphazardly outward, allowing him to see the vein of water that flowed at its base. Along the rocky shore, meters away and unaware of him, the purple-haired girl seemed to assess her surroundings. Even she was no exception to his wrath.

So why was this human -- this sickeningly _weak _human -- still alive even now?

Sesshoumaru had known of the huntress. A farmer who had stumbled onto his land had quickly volunteered the information in exchange for his life. It was said, among these humans, that the girl was a miko. That he was sure of, by the scent of her blood. But neither the man, nor his fleeing comrades, could say from where she came. Sesshoumaru frowned once again. He could taste the tinge of fear that wafted from the man's filthy skin as he took this information in. But the usual mechanical acceptance he found in cleansing his land of the mortal was lost to him. He hadn't even realized that he had killed the man, his mind was so engrossed in thought.

There were in truth two of them, he had been told. A child of perhaps sixteen, and the huntress herself. But it was the latter of the two girls that chose to seek him out. The girl was a priestess, strange as she may seem. The farmer had blathered on about the magic she wielded. A power like nothing else. She had been known by these people to have tamed a pure-blooded bear youkai with a simple spell. And her appearance made these powers ever more extraordinary for, upon seeing her, he had felt a twinge to the fact that she _was _just that. A girl.

A simple girl. Barely more than eighteen, she stood a full head's length below his brow. Or so he had equated, having no interest in allowing the purple-haired thing near enough to be sure. Lavender eyes shone beneath dark lashes. Fair skin gave way to thoughts of how easily she may bruise, but the chestnut boa she hefted like a bamboo twig spoke otherwise.

Yet it was not her appearance, but her calm determination that caught his interest. Unbidden, images of his half-brother's human wench flashed among the rushing torrents of his thoughts. The memory wrung an impatient growl from his lips and he paused for a moment, taking a breath.

_Inuyasha_... his mind grated. _The whelp is long dead. What use can be found in drudging up old memories?_

But the usual insistent ache remained lodged in his thoughts, as it always had. It was growing slowly harder for him to brush it aside... With an aggravated toss of his head, he willed the memory of the hanyou into the dark recesses of his mind, returning his attention to the girl that moved along the shore below him.

She was swift, he knew, having allowed her to track him as far as seven miles from the village she had arrived to. But he knew that even this was flawed. She was human. A pest he had allowed to live for the simple want of entertainment. A pet, of sorts, for his indulgence until he tired of her.

Or so he had planned.

But try as he might... Sesshoumaru stared down over the cliff's edge at the head of purple hair that continued its way further inward to the surrounding trees. He could not bring himself to completely believe his own thoughts. There was something… Something in her scent... in the tilt of her head... in the movements of her body...

"Lord Sesshoumaru," Jaken's hideously disturbing voice invaded his consciousness.

Sesshoumaru glared down at the creature now perched awkwardly at the cliff's edge near his feet.

"Um…Lord Sesshoumaru…" the dastardly freak of nature stammered, gripping the wooden staff he carried more securely. "Your pardon, My Lord, but…"

The little toad was cut off by Sesshoumaru's glare, but not for long. Senses alert to his quarry, Sesshoumaru looked down to find his golden gaze met by a pair of curious lavender ones far below him. She watched him timidly, a small hand held to her chest as she breathed rapidly. He narrowed his eyes, studying her, and she took off into the surrounding forest, leaving behind the scent of fear tinted with the silvery magic he had now become inured to.

"My Lord?"

Again, Jaken's voice was cut short as the creature found himself spiraling thirty feet outward into the air, landing face first in the side of a tree a good distance away.

Sesshoumaru looked at his hand. Somehow, the usual satisfaction he took in punishing the little toad was lost to him. And as he took to the diligent rounds of scenting his domain, growling lightly, he knew that something in the girl's scent had very much to do with it...

A half mile away, Kuri ran blindly through the trees. Her breath rasped in frightened bursts as she pushed past a low-hanging branch. Gnarled limbs tore at her clothing as she went, barreling past a large boulder.

_He was there all along!_ he brain screamed as the ache in her legs began to take toll. _He knew... He could have killed me if he wanted to_...

She slowed slightly, her chest and throat parched. Stopping for a moment, she turned, taking a fearful glance backward.

"Come on, Kuri," she breathed, hands on her knees as she rested, "if he was following you, you'd be dead by now."

Catching her breath slowly, she straightened and looked at her surroundings. The trees had changed, she noted. The thick sense of demon power seemed to not have reached these parts. A light breeze shifted the darkening foliage around her lazily. There seemed a sense of tranquility here, the forest undisturbed by neither man nor beast.

Breathing in the fresh scent of early winter, she sighed.

"At least it was worth the trip," she murmured, looking down at her clasped hand. "I got what I came for..."

There, in the crease of her palm a single, silver strand of hair glistened. A static charge seemed to run along the thing, giving it a strangely beautiful glow. Kuri felt a sudden tug deep inside her. Closing her eyes, she willed the feeling away.

_Not now_, she sighed, continuing her trek back toward the east. _Better get back to camp... Hana's going to slaughter me for being late._

Twisting the strand of hair into a neat coil, she deposited it into the small deerskin pouch at her waist. Pulling her nerves up around her, she quickened her pace. Her step faltered only once as she pushed through the surrounding bushes, the vague sense of longing forcing its way into her thoughts. It was not a time for these emotions, she knew.

Her task here was fulfilled for the day. The fourth of her attempts to cast the taming spell against the demon had proved successful and that was all that mattered... But the urgency at seeing him again refused to leave her. And the mission she had, coupled with a now-consuming need, was all it took for the resolve that the she would soon see him again.


	2. Kuri

"He saw you?!?"

Kuri nodded, answering 'yes' to her friend's question for the fifteenth time that night. The trip back to camp had been a quick one. Night had fallen rapidly around her as she drew near to the area she had left Hana. And the excitement of her success had returned upon seeing the girl again.

"Yes, Hana," she laughed, slipping into the warmth of her blanket. "He did see me. Looked right into my eyes without even the slightest hesitation."

This had been the depth of their conversation since the rising of the moon when Kuri had returned from tracking. Hana, welcoming the company in the darkening forest, had greeted her with freshly roasted fish, and yams from a nearby village. The two had shared the day's events while filling their bellies with food.

Kuri smiled as she withdrew the small pouch from her waist and reached inside.

"And..." she breathed dramatically, unraveling the silken strand from within, "I found this before I cast the taming spell."

She held the hair up to the light, delighting in the surprise that reflected in the other girl's eyes.

"Oohh!!" Hana breathed, unrolling from her blanket and taking the hair. "Is it... his hair? Does this mean... the magic will work? You truly _can _take control of him?"

Kuri nodded, looking into the fire's light._ But it wasn't that easy_...

She had been sure that the great youkai was, at the least, a mile north of her. Fear had halted her pace at the sound of voices above her in the peaks. She'd turned to find the object of her mission standing a short distance away. Stricken by the sheer onslaught of emotions his presence had brought, she had hardly noticed the toad-like minion that spoke with the youkai.

And then he had looked at her, watching her with those deep golden eyes... As though he'd known she was there all along. And those eyes... She'd almost fallen into their trance before she remembered the reason for following him that day. She had begun to run before the spell was fully cast...

"What will you do with it now?" Hana's voice inquired, her small hand extending to return the strand to Kuri.

"The magic is complex," she murmured, looking across the small fire in their camp at the raven-haired girl. "I've only just now begun to understand its meaning. Your dialect is very different from mine. I only hope that the scrolls Priestess Midori gave us will be enough."

It was proving to be an interesting tale, this journey Kuri had found herself taking. It had been nearly two months. Two months since she had awoken in feudal Japan and taken on the task of finding Riku, the missing girl that Hana called her sister. Two months since she had fallen through the ancient well in her own world, only to find herself miles and centuries away from her mother...

_But this has always been my destiny_, Kuri thought to herself, twisting the hair delicately around her finger. _Ever since I was a child... I knew some day mom's stories would come true... That someday, I would die to save someone's soul..._

She smiled sadly. _Too bad mom didn't tell me it would be in feudal Japan_...

But the trip hadn't been the nightmare it had seemed to be. The villagers that had taken the girl, Hana, in as an orphan, had cared for Kuri as well, despite their strange fear of her miko powers. It was these kind people who had taught her to survive in their age of poverty. And it was the same people who had directed the two friends to Midori, the aged miko who lived deep within the Satsuma caverns.

Midori had foreseen this journey that even Kuri had not been trained to see. And though the ancient miko had been blind, she knew precisely where to find the scrolls that would aid Kuri in her predestined tasks. Within the parchment lay writings by an even older priestess. A miko who had fought against the same demon she, Kuri, now sought to tame. And using these spells of such an ancient tongue, Kuri was now closer to claiming the information Sesshoumaru had on the girl that Hana called Riku. Her sister.

_Unless, of course, he decides to kill me first_... she smiled ironically.

Kuri remembered the look in his eyes. The raw sense of... something... It escaped her somehow. She had known it, could almost smell it as she found her way back to camp. But now, as she gazed up through the trees at the half moon above them, she couldn't be sure.

"Will you do it now?" Hana's light, sleepy voice murmured as she turned chocolate colored eyes to Kuri. "Will you use his hair to cast the final spell?"

Kuri sat up slowly, pausing before untying her hair from the braid she kept it in. Purple hair cascaded around her shoulders, falling in waves down her back.

"I can try..." she murmured, rummaging through her pack as she spoke.

Hana rose as well, drawing the blanket about her and leaning against the large pack on her side of the fire. Kuri withdrew the small blade she had hidden in the folds of her clothing. Taking a glance toward Hana, she lay the blade, the hair, and her small pouch onto the grassy ground before her. Without a word, she opened the pouch, extracting one of the many pieces of crystal she had stored there.

The small crystal shard glowed dimly as Kuri ran the blade along its side. There was a light hiss as an opening grew at the shard's center. Whispering the words Midori taught her, she plunged the tip of the blade into the crystal's glowing center. Light burst from the core, engulfing the blade and running in white tendrils along her hands. Swiftly, she lifted the hair, allowing the crystal's light to draw the tress into the core, consuming it wholly.

There was silence.

Kuri released her breath, smiling reassuringly at Hana. The younger girl's eyes were wide in amazement. The light receded, returning to a dim glow. And then the trembling began.

Hands burning with the crystal's strength, Kuri's lips parted as the shard began to shake violently. The rumbling grew louder, surrounding them as the wind rose. The trees moaned in the strength of the light that flared from Kuri's hands. Hana fell backward, the glow striking her. Kuri squinted into the blaze, eyes flown open as the gash in the shard glowed a molten red.

"Kuri!!" Hana called to her, her voice muffled by the howling wind. "Kuri! What's happening?!?"

The miko held fast to the shard, refusing to allow the dark power emitting from it to control her.

"Stop," she whispered, building her own power around the shard. "Stop it!"

Thrusting the crystal downward, she grasped the blade, arching it upward.

"Stop!" she commanded, driving the blade downward.

The sound of steel against glass echoed through the night. The light dimmed, diffusing the power that had only then exploded from the shard's center. Kuri panted, her hand steady as she held the tip of the blade against the crystal. The light was gone now. The wind had fallen, dashing strand of hair in her face, and the chirping of crickets began once again.

"Kuri?" Hana's timid voice asked her as she sat up. "Are you alright?"

Kuri swallowed hard, a bead of sweat dripping from the side of her face. Lifting her hand slowly, she withdrew the blade. The opening still glowed. And as she removed her hand, allowing the shard to rest amongst the blades of grass, a splintering sound could be heard. Jagged cracks, thin as thread, ran in wavy currents along the crystal's surface. Dust-like bits splinted from the cracks. Light surrounded the shard, glowing from the fissures like miniature streams. A faint hiss emitted from the shard as it swelled, strained against the breaks, then finally shattered into billions of dust particles.

Kuri raised a hand, protecting her eyes from the splinters. Lowering her arm slowly, she looked at the ground before her. The hair was there. Nestled between two blades of grass, the hair glowed silver, throbbing in the fire's light. She could hear Hana move; felt the girl draw closer as she retrieved the tress.

"It's... warm," Kuri breathed, watching as the glow receded, leaving the lock the same shade of silver it had been.

Lifting it gingerly, Kuri bit her lip.

"What now?" Hana whispered, eyes wide.

Kuri's brow furrowed as she thought to herself. Straightening slowly, she lifted the lock to her own hair, pausing a moment before braiding it into her purple tresses. She held the thin braid up to the light, a faint shiver running along her spine as the silver strand glowed, then turned to purple, blending perfectly with her own hair.

"Now..." she whispered, letting her hair fall as she turned to Hana, "we wait."

Gathering her hair backward, she tied it securely and smiled at Hana.

"Better clean up," she breathed, touching the girl's arm lightly.

_If only I knew what we should really do now_, Kuri thought silently as she moved to clean their disheveled camp. _That energy... It was almost as though Sesshoumaru's own power was fighting the spell_...

Her lavender eyes flitted toward Hana's back. _Better not scare her... The people of this era aren't as used to these things as we are back home. Actually, people back home aren't so accepting of it either... Better to just let it go_...

"It worries me," Hana murmured as they finally returned to their blankets. "Not the magic, really. Just... the danger you place yourself in... And for me... I know you mean well, Kuri. And I thank you as you may not know. But to follow him as you do... Does it not worry you that it has been such an easy task? To follow a demon as powerful as he, no less?"

Kuri _had _thought about the reasons why so many had claimed the great demon, Sesshoumaru, to be elusive. Especially in light of the effortless ease in which she had located him. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that her spells solely contributed to the demon's attraction. But she also wasn't foolish enough to think that he may not be leading her on. She would not bring herself to put it past him to use her for game.

Being close to the demon had begun to implant strange feelings inside her, as well. She had anticipated it, well aware of the tainted blood that ran through her family's veins. It was beyond her control, this attraction to Sesshoumaru. At least, mostly it was. Her mother's words rang clearly as she turned her cheek into the blanket's folds.

"We are different, Kuri. You and I. Not merely because of the miko blood that runs within our veins, but also because of the curse we, as the women of our line, have carried from our ancestors. Your greatest grandmother was the first. She, being of a time when monsters were abundant and priestesses were few, was borne of a demon herself. Her father, a man of the cloth, turned his back on the religion he once knew, for the love of a woman deemed a monster in his brethren's eyes.

"It was his wife, a pure-blood, that cast the curse against us. To protect her children from a power greater than her own, she bound them. The blood we have is not that of merely a human, but a mixed breed that will forever be refrained from the full power that is our right. Because of our curse, we may never fully make use of our true powers. The power of a full-blooded demon..."

_Weirdo-girl. Is that what I am?_ Kuri wondered silently. _A human with demonic miko powers hidden somewhere inside this body? Is that why I feel so deeply for them? These creatures... Because of my umpteenth-great grandmother's curse? Is that why I can't help but... want him?_

"However it was that I found him, it will only bring us closer to our mission," Kuri whispered, "Whatever the reason, he _lets _me find him. And he's never tried to hurt me... Well, almost never. I only know that, somehow, I'll be seeing him again very soon. And when I do, I'll know for sure if he can help us to find Riku."

"Hmm," Hana's murmur came across the dimming circle. "Then it will be back to the Bone-eater's well..."

Kuri nodded, snuggling further into her bedding.

"The well," Kuri murmured, smiling sadly to herself. "Riku will know, won't she, Hana? She'll know a way back through the well... Back to mom, and the shrine... Back home..."

She looked over to her friend. The fire reflected off of the sleeping girl's face. It was probably best this way. No fear of endangering the only one that could get her through the well's magical barrier. Casting her covers aside and rising quietly, she reached into the pouch at her waist, retrieving a sift of hachimitsu dust. She scattered it over the entire site, sealing any traces of their scent and enchanting the clearing so that any who came near would unconsciously rethink their path. Hana would be protected now, and the spell would keep her deep in sleep until the following sunset.

Gathering one of their two small packs, Kuri set out to scavenge for food. Her bare feet were muffled by the leafy undergrowth as she darted through the forest, gathering what edible plants she could find. Pausing at a low-lying shrub, she looked to the west.

That would be the place to find Sesshoumaru. In the region that his power was strongest. It was everywhere, she knew. Traces of his power hovered in the north as well as the south. The villagers had been right in their fear. The demon had been meticulous these past years. He had not been "randomly wandering" as so many older villagers had bravely joked. Sesshoumaru had spent his years slowly claiming nearly the entire region that would have been modern day Tokyo.

_And if my classes in geography served me right, and rumors from these travelers are true_, Kuri trembled as she turned back to her task, _he's marked his land as far west as Kanazawa would be, back home in my time... So much power... Like a border between north and south Japan..._

Gathering her pack to her hurriedly, she tossed her hair to the side, lowering her head and setting out en route to the Bone-eater's well.

The breeze caressed her cheeks as she ran, her breath loud in her ears. The trees around her began to thin and she could feel the wind pick up as she neared the clearing.

Moonlight shone on her path, guiding her along the way. The air was thick with remnants of war. Gnarled roots jutted from the dying grass, grasping at the rotted wood that were the well's gates. The gates had not been there as long as the well itself, she knew. Years ago, when a battle had been waged in this very spot, someone had built the gates surrounding the well in hopes of keeping people out. And the magical barrier, glowing just dimly enough for her miko eyes to see, was enough to deduce that whoever built made sure to keep both humans and demons in mind.

As she drew closer, the tales that the villagers had told her flashed into her mind. Tales of a strange girl who had come to this world by way of the same well. A girl who had freed a demon half-breed and joined forces with him to oppose Sesshoumaru himself. That girl had been a priestess as well. She had used her gift of Sight to help the hanyou in hopes of gaining the shards of the legendary Shikon no Tama. The sacred jewel that had been shattered into hundreds of pieces. No one would complete the tale, but Kuri knew that the girl was forced back into her own world. And the hanyou, whose name the villagers dared not mention for fear of Sesshoumaru's wrath, was destroyed at the great demon's own hand. It had been twelve years...

Kuri's fingers stroked absently at the weeds that grew from the cracks in the well. Twelve years to the day. That was when she and Hana had arrived. Or, rather, when she had been dragged through the well by its curse. She could barely remember the journey. Only the feel of twelve years' worth of loss and suffering, and the devastation of someone else's memories flooding her soul. It hadn't taken long for her to understand and accept her mission.

Ten years of studying her powers, and the mystery that was her family's history, had made her strong. Granted, being engulfed in flames, and hurtled into a strange world of demons and talking toads, was morbid punishment for being a diligent priestess, but somehow she felt she belonged. And the friendship she shared with Hana reinforced her resolve to stay. At lease until she found what she was looking for...

She set the pack down, leaning over the edge of the well to gaze into the darkness below. It seemed a black abyss, swallowing even the light of the moon without reflection.

"I will find you," Kuri whispered, sighing slightly. "With whatever information Sesshoumaru holds, I _will _bring you back. It's the only way..."

"And what will you do if the person you seek does not wish to be found and taken back?"

Kuri spun around at the voice. Before her stood a young woman, perhaps her own age, with dark hip-length hair and curious eyes.

"I... You... " Kuri stammered. "Y-you're the one!"

The woman stepped forward, a hand grasping at the folds of her short white kimono.

"Why are you following Lord Sesshoumaru?" the woman asked pleadingly, her eyes filled with sadness. "He's done nothing to you or your people. And whatever you seek... it cannot be so very important to risk angering him, can it?! Why do you do this? And who are you?"

Kuri stood staring, breathless. She looked almost exactly like Hana! This _had _to be the one she was looking for! This woman in Sesshoumaru's possession...

"Kuri. My name is Kuri," she answered. "I came to rescue you, I think... You're Riku, aren't you? Hana's sister? We've searched for you for so long! Hana will be so glad to see you when you get back! We should go before..."

"You're mistaken, is all," the woman said softly, smiling a little. "I'm not the one you're looking for."

"What do you mean?" Kuri moved closer, sensing danger drawing near.

A rustle to their left made her jump. There, in the clearing of the woods, a monstrous twin-headed creature towered with eyes blazing in rage. Its left head snarled lowly, the hulking body striding toward where the woman stood.

"You have to come with me!" Kuri said urgently, reaching back before realizing that her boa was still at the camp. "Please! I have to take you to Hana before Sesshoumaru comes to find us!"

The woman looked at the creature as it bent one of its heads to her. Without a word, she leap onto the thing's shoulder and sat down, looking down at Kuri.

"I'm sorry," the woman said as the beast rose and began to walk away. "You really were mistaken. My name is _not _Riku. It's Rin."


	3. NOTICE

It came to my attention recently that FF... well... sucks. lol

If you're interested in my fic, you can view the yet-incomplete, in-transit for revision version at wwwdotmediaminerdotorg/fanfic/src.php/u/56317. OR search the fiction section for "FuyuKuri".

Sorry for all this. You can feel free to blabe the ppl in charge of this place for my last minute change of heart. 


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